Ultra's Russell Faibisch, LIV's Dave Grutman Named to 50 Most Important People in EDM

Over the last several years, electronic dance music's popularity has spiked, especially in the United States. And so have the profits that could be made off its DJs, producers, nightlife brands, clubs, festivals, cruises...

In fact, Miami's only contributions to this power list (which, incidentally, was coauthored by former New Times music editor Arielle Castillo) are two such business guys: Ultra Music Festival's Russell Faibisch and LIV Miami's Dave Grutman.

Citing Ultra's drawing power ("more than 330,000 attendees in 2013") and its global reach ("an international chain of branded festivals"), Rolling Stone considers festival cofounder Faibisch to be the sixth most important person in EDM.

As the founder of MMG Nightlife, he and his team operate South Beach megaclubs Story and LIV, the latter of which was last year's fifth most profitable nightlife spot in the country, making $45 to $60 million in 2013, according to Nightclub and Bar Media Group's "Nightclub & Bar Top 100."

No doubt, that's big bucks.

Photo by Ian Witlen

Of course, all of this emphasis on dollars seems to be rankling the so-called "real EDM fans," who'd rather retitle Rolling Stone's list: "50 People Most Responsible for Destroying EDM."

But with the music industry at large increasingly incapable of selling enough CDs or MP3s to turn satisfactory profits, the standard for determining importance is often making money, which is something EDM festivals, clubs, and concert promotion monsters are doing pretty well right now.

So yes, ravers, the bottom line is the bottom line. It's not just about the vibes.